London calling: Marshall rocks amp-inspired smartphone

Buying a smartphone in 2015 can be a
pretty daunting and often humdrum task, with numerous flagships and
ranges that all offer slight variations of the same general feature
set. Well, if you're an audiophile and you fancy something a little
out of the ordinary, then Marshall might just have the device for
you. It's certainly not the most high-end handset we've seen, but it
offers a host of features aimed squarely at music lovers and musicians.

Once upon a time, you'd only really
find the Marshall logo on its range of highly respected guitar
amplifiers. But times change, and the company is diversifying. It
began with the release of some tasty headphones, followed by active speaker systems such as the
Hanwell, Woburn and more recently, the comparatively diminutive
Kilburn. Now the brand is moving into all new territory, releasing
its first ever smartphone.

Let's get one thing out of the way –
this isn't a flagship level handset. The device, known as the
Marshall London, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor,
paired with 2 GB of RAM, 16 of GB internal storage (expandable via a
microSD card slot), and features a 4.7-inch 1,280 x 720 display.

If you're familiar with high-end
smartphones in 2015, you'll be aware that those aren't exactly top
shelf components. However, what the London lacks on the telephony spec sheet,
it does its best to make up for with an audio-focused feature set.

For starters, there's a dedicated
Wolfson WM8281 soundcard, allowing for high resolution, FLAC audio
playback. There are dual front-facing speakers (which are said to “possibly” be the loudest on any mobile phone), as well as two stereo audio jacks with independent volume controls. Marshall is also
putting a pair of its Mode in-ear headphones in every box.

Elsewhere, there's an old school touch
in the form of a scroll wheel for adjusting volume, and an “M-Button”
on the top of the handset that, when clicked, takes you straight to
your music, complete with a global equalizer.

Some attention has been paid to the software
side of things, too. The device runs on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop,
and comes pre-installed with DJApp and Loopstack – a four track
recorder that allows for 44 kHz/16 bit recording. Of course, it'll
also work with other third party music and recording software
downloaded from the Google Play Store.

For many, the classic Marshall stylings
alone might be enough to tempt them into a purchase. We can't help
but wish that the core specs packed a little more punch, but the
dedicated features make this an interesting handset with a very
specific focus.

Marshall hasn't announced when you'll
be able to get your hands on the London in the US, but it'll land in
the UK for £399 (about US$600) next month.